Mini crossover finds its way into Nissan’s line up.

“What is it? Is it a Nissan?” asked my neighbor, Gary. “Yes, it is a Nissan — it’s called an Insect,” I joked. Well, not really. …

Hundreds of Small Ways to Save Big at the Pump
How appropriate it is for an author to write a book addressing a problem every car driving consumer faces: high fuel prices. That’s exactly what Dr. …

Current Ford Fusion is worth your consideration.
The Ford Fusion is on its last legs. No, not the model itself, rather the current generation of this popular midsize sedan is expected to be replaced, perhaps in …

2011 Kia Optima Hybrid
Kia Motors America announced on Tuesday that its all-new for 2011 Optima Hybrid will retail from $26,500 when it goes on sale in early June. This sedan, rated at 35 mpg city …

Sibling to the Jeep Liberty, the Dodge Nitro was introduced for model year 2007, a five-passenger unibody sport utility vehicle designed for on- and off-road use. Like the Liberty, the Nitro goes places most modern …

Blue Oval continues to refine its business model.
Of the three Detroit automakers, the Ford Motor Company is the healthiest, has the newest products, is showing the biggest increase in market share and is enjoying the …

Prom season is here and while high school students are excited about all of the glam and glitter, many parents look upon the event with mixed feelings. This popular rite of passage is a clear …

I’m not usually a fan of special edition models for the simple reason is that I don’t usually find that the extra packaging deserves the higher price.  Also, I have seen special edition models which …

By far the largest brand owned by General Motors, Chevrolet stands to gain the most as parent GM restructures. At the same time, Chevrolet stands to lose the most if GM cannot pull everything off …

New Market For The Chevrolet Cruze
As far as good news goes, GM hasn’t been getting a lot of it lately. However, when reports of April 2009 auto sales came in for the Chinese market, that …

My wife is a huge fan of American Idol, has been one for years, so I am well aware that one of the biggest sponsors of the show is the Ford Motor Company. Last year, …

If there is one company who consistently brings forth products that car buyers want and at quality levels that are unsurpassed, then that company would be Toyota. Toyota’s reputation for building benchmark setting vehicles is …

When it comes to auto racing, Porsche is dominant having won tens of thousands of races down through the years. The Porsche 911 is perhaps the best symbol of the automaker’s racing prowess, winning countless …

This past week I put the finishing touches on my latest work, Finley Racing, a website with the race car enthusiast in mind. Initially launched in 2003 and owned by an actual race team, I …

Daimler AG and Chrysler LLC will soon sever their last remaining ties, a marriage first hatched in 1998 with their divorce completed in 2007.
Since selling off controlling interest in Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., …

Word that General Motors is about to announce the complete shut down of the Pontiac brand instead of paring it back is disappointing news to say the least.  Given that GM is in precarious financial …

Happy anniversary, Auto Trends!
Most of all, thank you to all of my readers who have found this site and continue to follow my many updates.
I launched Auto Trends about a year ago, wanting to do …

Introduced in January 2008, Daimler’s Smart Fortwo was an instant hit, nicely timed as high gas prices climbed upward. By last summer, Fortwo’s were zipping off of dealer lots as four dollar gasoline prices encouraged …

I’ve been buried in projects lately and have cut back on blogging at least as it pertains to adding fresh content to this site. I’d much rather blog on fewer days then to have to …

I can’t help but listen to the sad plight of so many of my fellow Americans. Shoot, my fellow global citizens would be a more accurate description of the pain that is being felt worldwide!
I …

As Congress passes one stimulus or bail out package after another, Americans are going to want to know which programs will actually stick. Some steps will simply expand government’s role in our lives, with not …

They’ve been putting it off for months, perhaps years, but the inevitable seems to have arrived: General Motors should file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Yesterday, the automaker disclosed that they lost $9.6 billion in the
fourth …

The biggest “news makers” when it comes to the auto industry are the car companies in that as their fortunes rise and fall, the press eagerly relays what is going on with them. But, there …

Base Model Will Retail For Under $21,000

2010 Ford Mustang Convertible
2009 will certainly be a good year for Ford, at least when it comes to updating its product portfolio. Hopefully, the company’s many new products will …

Fresh off the heels of garnering the prestigious North American Car of the Year award for its Genesis Sedan, Hyundai is using this month’s Chicago Auto Show to debut the Genesis Coupe, a well-equipped sport …

You got to hand it to the folks at Chrysler LLC. Fresh off of receiving an injection of cash from the federal government, the company has crafted a new auto financing scheme for buyers of …

I’m feeling good about the direction that the Ford Motor Company is taking.
First, the automaker refused a government bail out although the company did support rival GM and Chrysler and their requests for assistance.
Second, I …

Choosing a top luxury car pick can be a daunting task, especially when there are so many good, even exceptional models to choose from. Among Japanese automakers Lexus, Infiniti and Acura each field world class …

Tens of thousands of foreign built cars are shipped through American ports every month, destined for dealerships across the country. However, much like American car makers, many foreign nameplates are having a tough time selling …

If you haven’t heard that executives from America’s major automotive manufacturers are meeting with Congress in a bid to secure tens of billions of dollars in loan cost loans, then you are missing one of …

Mazda rolled out the next generation of its hugely popular compact car, the Mazda3, at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show and I must say that I am impressed by this model. One in three …

The Ford Motor Company appears bent on selling Volvo in a bid to raise as much as six billion dollars to fund its struggling operation. Volvo has been part of the Ford fold since 1999, …

Subaru has taken the extraordinary step to assure everyone that they will, indeed, appear at next month’s auto show in Detroit by sending out a press release stating that fact. Apparently, there has been some …

You can count me among the skeptics who never fully embraced the first generation Lincoln MKZ when it was introduced in late 2005 as the 2006 Zephyr. Not that the size of the car was …

The Nissan Versa is the smallest car from the popular Japanese automaker, but it now has one more claim to fame with it: it now has the lowest sticker price of any new car sold …